Ryan Wilson: The Mental Game in Australian SASR Selection - Ep. 105

Ryan Wilson completed a long and challenging career in the Australian Army spanning 18 years, primarily in the Special Air Service Regiment, where he gained extensive experience leading teams in highly complex and uncertain environments on multiple combat tours.   

During his time in the special forces, Ryan experienced many life-changing and challenging situations that sparked his interest in resilience, high performance, and operational management.  Following his military career, Ryan commenced his journey into the whiskey industry, starting in 2020 as Business Development Manager for Whipper Snapper Distillery, and is now the General Manager overseeing the entire operation.      

Ryan is active in the veteran support space. He is on the Board of Directors for the Veteran employment non-profit Working Spirit and is the WA manager for the veteran charity Wandering Warriors.  He has recently founded a new charity called Working Paws Australia, which aims to raise money and provide financial assistance for medical bills and other areas associated with retired military and police working dogs.  

He holds a BA in Politics and International Studies from Murdoch University and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Western Australia.  He is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) Course.  

Ryan spent much of his career living and working throughout Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, and is fluent in Bahasa Indonesian.   

More about Ryan:

You can learn more about Ryan and the charities he’s involved with at his Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanwilson_1984/

Timestamps:

00:00:22 Introduction to Ryan Wilson

00:01:55 Career Overview

00:04:16 SAS Selection: What makes people quit?

00:07:32 Mental Preparation: How to Keep Going and Stay Out of Your Head

00:10:40 Keeping An Internal Compass 

00:13:40 Segmenting: A Thousand Manageable Steps, One At A Time

00:15:56 Stories of Selection & Low Points

00:19:13 What Are My Odds of Making It

00:22:20 End of Selection: Three Sentences and You're On Your Way Home

00:24:08 The Sword in the Stone Mentality

00:27:21 Selection Starts When the Stress Sets In

00:28:46 Sponsor Note: Mindfulness in Training App

00:31:32 Rationale for Snapping & Trainability 

00:36:04 The Ability to Deal With Failure & Setbacks

00:39:30 How Powerful Nutrition Is & Can Be

00:43:23 Foundation for Metabolic Flexibility

00:45:32 Team Dynamics in Selection: Knowing When to Follow & When to Lead

00:47:21 Building Trust and Rapport With a New Group

00:50:32 Career Progression After Selection

00:54:06 Work/Life Balance Compared to the Army

00:58:23 Best and Worst Advice Ever Received

01:01:39 Outro